I went this weekend with some friends for some much needed TIME OUT! We attending the TOFW conference in Oklahoma City last weekend and it was great. We had such a great time eating, and of course laughing and staying up late etc! We were able to have dessert one night at the Melting Pot restaurant, which is all just fabulous Chocolate Fondue!! 
The speakers and music at the conference were great also..gives me a much needed boost in the spiritual department. With me being in Primary every Sunday running with my head cut off, I definitely needed it!
We skipped out the second day for a little while to go to the Oklahoma City Bombing site. We happened to be there for the 13th anniversary and can I just say WOW! I didn't think it would affect me as much as it did. It was beautiful, emotional and such a sacred place. They have done such a great job with the memorial and as a mother, the stories of the lives lost..especially the children just broke my heart.
The memorial museum was just so overwhelming. I don't know if I have ever cried that much in public but I felt okay about it because there was such a special spirit there. The last room in the museum was a room with framed photos of everyone that died and an item of theirs. The song that played in that room was "Abide with Me" which just made me sob! It was so sobering. It changed me forever and I will always be grateful for my family and live every day to the fullest.
Anyway, if you ever have a chance..GO! I was able to get a survivor tree that they gave out that day to visitors. It was from a tree that survived the blast. They took seeds from it and planted new trees and gave them to everyone..which I brought home to plant with my kids in rememberance.
After we saw the memorial, we had to go fill our souls with FOOD! We all bought a huge sandwich and sweets to help comfort us and then we were good. It was an amazing weekend with such great people and friends! I am blessed to have them all..
Here are some pics of the memorial below..Again..Amazing-
These are the gates at either end of the reflecting pool. One says 9:01 am and the other says 9:03 am and the bombing actually happened at 9:02am where the reflecting pool is. It represents the time before and after that would change their city forever and the moment they say that its innocence was gone.
This is the field of empty chairs which were decorated for the anniversary. Notice that the smaller ones are for the 19 children that died. Heartbreaking!
This is the survivor tree that survived the bombing..and where the seeds were taken from for the tree we planted.
This statue was across the street from the memorial site in front of a church..so beautiful. The chimes of the music from the church played "Amazing Grace", "How Great Thou Art" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
This was inside the memorial building which was the last pic I took because they were not allowed anymore after this point.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Time Out!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I loved this post. Thanks for sharing it with me. I'm just sad that I couldn't go with you guys. You all looked like you had an amazing time! Love ya!
How sad that I didn't go to TO for Women - I almost did! I could have run into you.
I agree the Memorial is beautifully done.
We're moving to Oklahoma City in August so next time you're coming give me a shout and we can get together.
That was a good post...I love the pics too! I will really never forget that day we went to the museum. You explained it all very well. Now, I need to add the happy TOFW stuff to my post. Mind if I borrow a pic or two from yours? ;)
I'm so glad that you were able to go to TOFW. It's so much fun and always well worth it.
OKC, I can't even imagine the feelings that are there. I hope to make a trip there at some point.
Very cool pics, thanks for doing a post on it.
This is such a sweet post! Sounds like you guys had a great time. It's rare when you can have both/all a Fun and deep and moving etc...
Very cool.
Post a Comment